


Not Without You

by jujukittychick



Series: LJ stories_a_z prompts [18]
Category: Banlieue 13 (Movies)
Genre: Boys Kissing, Hidden/Unnoticed Injury, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Pre-Slash, Rare Pairings, clueless Damien, non-descriptive wounds and wound care, set somewhere after both movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:47:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28072710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jujukittychick/pseuds/jujukittychick
Summary: Leito’s been breaking into Damien’s apartment ever since Damien waved goodbye to him and Lola at the checkpoint.  Damien never thought anything about it until his latest girlfriend asked him to move in.(Originally posted to main collection 12/7/20)
Relationships: Leïto/Damien Tomaso
Series: LJ stories_a_z prompts [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/105569
Kudos: 8
Collections: 1 Million Words' A to Z Challenge





	Not Without You

**Author's Note:**

> For 1_million_words a-z challenge- N and stories_a_z - N; For Merry Trope-mas - Day #7: Hidden/Unnoticed Injury
> 
> so it’s the main pairing for this fandom, but there’s also so few fics in this fandom that I think it counts as a rare pair because omg i need more of these two. This is also my first time writing these guys, so...hopefully it’s not too bad

Damien was used to Leito showing up at all hours of the day or night in his apartment since they had stopped the missile that would have destroyed part of the banlieu and killed Lola...and then blew up the bombs which  _ did _ destroy the banlieu. Sometimes he came through the front door, even though it was locked and the other man didn’t have a key, other times through the door on the balcony, and one memorable time, through the kitchen window. His girlfriend at the time had not been amused and had proceeded to throw half the contents of his kitchen cabinets at first Leito, thinking he was an intruder, which, okay, technically he was, and then at him when he tried to get her to calm down, because apparently telling her that, “it’s just Leito, he does this,” was not an acceptable response to her screaming for help. Needless to say, they never went back out after that.

In fact, now that he thought about it, he’d lost his last couple of girlfriends because of Leito just showing up, or at least it had been the catalyst to the breakups. He’d kind of lost count of the times one of the women had accused him of having an affair with the other man, pointing out how they’d wake up only to find another half dressed man in the apartment, and apparently looking at Leito’s customary cargo pants and tank top combo and telling them, “it’s Leito, it’s just how he dresses most of the time” is also not an acceptable response, or how they must be in a relationship because they’re much too familiar with each other after finding them in the kitchen making breakfast together, the two seamlessly moving around each other to get things done.

But it was the words of his latest ex-girlfriend that had him sitting on his couch in the dark nursing a glass of whiskey. She’d stuck around through a couple of Leito’s surprise visits, and he thought maybe things would be better this time. But then that evening over dinner he’d mentioned how his lease was coming up and she’d suggested him maybe moving in with her. He’d laughed, commented on how Leito would get a kick out of learning his way around a new apartment complex. But she’d frowned and said that Leito was welcome to visit... if he came to the front door during decent hours and knocked like a normal visitor. And Damien… Damien had stared at her, speechless, because he simply couldn’t imagine Leito  _ knocking _ on a door to visit him, or not randomly being there in the mornings a couple times a week. 

She must have read something in his posture, the look on his face, because she gave him a sad smile and folded her napkin, placing it carefully on the table next to her plate. “Damien, you are a good man, but you are difficult to love when your heart is already with someone else. You make allowances for your Leito that you would not do for anyone else. We’ve been dating for months and you’ve never given me a key so I can just stop by or surprise you, but you have no problem with him popping in whenever he feels like it, whether you’re home or not. Your first thought when asked to move in with me is how Leito would be able to find you. And I’ve watched the way you two act together, and I  _ know _ you have been faithful to me, but the touches and the way you know what the other is thinking with only a couple words spoken...Damien, you have been in a relationship for years now. You’ve just been too blind to see it.”

She’d kissed his cheek and wished him well and let herself out. And he’d been left alone with his whole world view splintered as he tried to reexamine the past few years’ worth of interactions with Leito. His head falling back against the couch, only word came to mind to summarize the entire situation, “Merde.”

~~

So, of course, after having his whole world view turned upside down, Leito doesn’t show up for an entire week. Damien actually wonders briefly if Leito had slipped into the kitchen or bedroom that night unbeknownst to them and heard what his ex said and was now avoiding him.

Damien had just dragged himself into his apartment after another double shift at the station, there’d been news of a new gang trying to make a name for themselves while everything in the old banlieu was still in upheaval as it was restructured and rebuilt, when he heard noise coming from his bathroom followed by muttered curses, light spilling out into the hall. Recognizing Leito’s voice, he padded quietly through the apartment after dropping his keys and things on the side table, “Leito?”

“Yeah...ow, motherfucker!” 

Damien rolled his eyes and leaned against the bathroom door frame as he watched Leito fighting to bandage a slice across his lower back, his ribs mottled red and purple. “What did you do this time? Here, let me.” Batting Leito’s hands out of the way, he took the bandage from him, made sure the wound didn’t actually need stitches and was clean, and got it secured properly before testing his ribs for any fractures.

“So, there’s a new gang; they’ve been hitting some of the smaller businesses recently. I just went to check them out, see what they’re up to and how many of them are.” He scowled at Damien through the mirror. “ Apparently, I missed one of their lookouts. A couple of the goons jumped me and managed to get a few lucky hits in before I was able to get out. One of them had a knife and caught me as I turned to run.”

“You should have called me; it’s kind of my job to look into these things, you know. Not to mention, it might be the same gang I’ve been looking into this week.”

“Yeah, well, you and the girl, the new one, she’s actually stuck around and I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Yeah, about that…” Ducking his head, he could feel the tips of his ears burning as he thought about what she had said, “she broke up with me last week.”

Leito was quiet for a long moment before catching his gaze in the mirror, “Because of me again?”

Damien hesitated, and then hated that he had when he saw a kind of sad resignation on his friend’s face. Resting a hand on his bare shoulder, he shrugged, offering a sad kind of smile, “Partially maybe, but it had more to do with me.” Looking down as he attempted to gather his thoughts to tell him what she had said, what he had come to realize himself, he froze. “Leito, you’re bleeding.”

“What?”

“Did you step on something? There’s blood all around your foot.”

“No, I took my shoes off after I got here. What the hell?” 

Damien watched as Leito tried to twist around to look at his leg only to let out a pained grunt. “Idiot, hold still, let me see. You can’t feel anything?” Dropping to his knees behind him, he carefully pulled up his pants leg to his knee, not seeing anything except for a thin trail of blood that had dripped down the back of his leg.

“No, not really, I scraped the back of my leg on a railing as I was getting away, but that’s it.”

“Yeah, I think it was more than a scrape.” Releasing his pant leg, he tugged gently at the fabric above his knee and watched as it separated in a long slice across the back of his thigh, the skin underneath smeared red. “Found it, you sliced yourself. Take these off and I’ll patch you up.” Standing up, he caught Leito’s dark gaze in the mirror, saw a hint of a blush spilling across his tanned skin. Damien tilted his head, raising an eyebrow.

Leito looked away from him before shrugging slightly. “Not wearing anything under them.”

Damien swallowed hard, his voice dropping slightly, could see his own blush coloring his pale skin before he looked away to start going through the first aid kit, “I could bring you a pair of underwear, or…”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leito look towards him once more. He didn’t know what the other man saw, but he nodded and started unfastening his pants, “Yeah, okay.”

Wetting a rag, Damien once more knelt behind Leito, eyes closing briefly as he heard the slither of material sliding against skin. Opening his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath as he got an up close and personal look at all of Leito’s lean, muscular form, all hard lines and tanned skin from his ridiculously strong legs up to his toned ass and his tattoo covered back. Focusing on the job he had to do, he gently cleaned the blood from his skin and then the wound itself. Running his thumb under the length of the cut, he felt as much as saw the shudder go through Leito’s taught form. Voice husky, he made sure it was covered in antibiotic ointment before bandaging it, “You’re lucky, I don’t think you’ll need stitches.”

“That’s, uh, that’s good.” Damien could see Leito’s hands tighten their grip on the edge of the counter. “You said she broke up with you not just because of me this time. What happened?”

Damien stayed where he was, packing up the first aid kit and cleaning up the trash, finding it easier to tell the truth without Leito being able to see him. “She said she couldn’t love someone that had given their heart to someone else. She said that I’d been in a relationship for years and was too blind to see it.”

Damien heard Leito exhale harshly, saw his body sway slightly and reached up to steady him with a hand on his hip, though as his fingers grazed over soft skin, his grip tightened, pulling a strangled noise from the brunet. Leito’s voice was just as harsh as his own as he spoke, “And who did she say you were in lo… this relationship with?”

Standing up, a humorless chuckle slipped from him as he let his other hand slide up Leito’s other side to rest on that hip as well, locking eyes with him in the mirror. “You know she asked me to move in with her? And my first thought was that you would probably love getting to learn how to get in and out of a whole new apartment building. She told me you would have to come to the front door during sensible hours and knock like a normal visitor. And I...I couldn’t picture it. I couldn’t picture not having you randomly asleep on my couch in the morning, or dropping in and helping with breakfast, or late night drinks when shit’s gone sideways again.”

“Damien?” He had never heard Leito’s voice so unsure.

Damien laughed again and pressed his forehead against Leito’s shoulder. “I never realized...relationships have always been difficult, I work too much, never home enough, the job’s too dangerous, whatever. But it’s always been so easy between us. When did you breaking into my house to steal my food turn into me not being able to picture my life without you in it?”

“Damien!” Leito spun around and pulled Damien into his arms, a pained grunt slipping from him as their bodies collided but it was swiftly buried under the desperate kiss they fell into.

Damien lost all track of time as the kiss dragged on and on, hands exploring each other’s bodies for the first time until Leito twisted and hissed in pain. Damien dropped one more chaste kiss on Leito’s kiss-swollen lips before pulling back. “Come on, let’s get you some clothes and pain killers. You can make yourself useful and help me cook dinner while you tell me about the gang.”

Leito smiled down at him, dark eyes filled with affection. “Yeah, alright.”

~~

Damien gave Leito a key to his apartment the next weekend. Leito wore it on a leather cord under his shirt, Lola teasing him about his new jewelry. He never does actually use it to get in the house.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like what I've written and want to see more of my ideas, check out [my plot bunny site](https://jujubunnies.freeforums.net/). You can comment on existing ideas I have for fics in various fandoms or leave your own requests for me. 
> 
> Also, I decided to get back on [livejournal](https://jujukittychick.livejournal.com/), so you can read notes about what I'm working on, new ideas, or whatever, as well as leave me PMs.


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